Things todo

classes

Mad about chocolate? Then why not take some lessons from a new establishment called the Chocolate School. Located inside Belezza Mall in Permata Hijau, West Jakarta, the school offers one-day course for people eager to open small businesses and three-day packages for those who are seriously mad about chocolate. The one-day course costs Rp 1.5 million (US$120), which includes one kilogram of chocolate and recipes as well as tips and tricks to cook the material. The three-day course costs Rp 3.5 million, and comes with the same amount of chocolate plus kitchen tools to process the chocolate, including a spatula and thermometer.

For more information visit: www.chocolateschool.org or (021) 7050 2668

musicals

If you grew up in the 1980s, you may be familiar with Gita Cinta dari SMA (High School Love Song) the third-highest grossing movie in the history of Indonesian cinema. It is a familiar Romeo and Juliet love story, told in a local context through the lives of Galih and Ratna. Taman Ismail Marzuki's Graha Bakti Budaya will present a musical version of the movie with numerous actors familiar to those who closely follow the country's sinetron scene, including like Surya Saputra, Cinthya Lamusu, Kikan "Cokelat", Mario "Kahitna", Indra Bekti and Sita Nursanti. Produced by Art Swara Productions, the musical drama runs from March 19 to March 21. For more information and tickets log on to www.gitacintathemusical.com

photos

In the mid 19th Century French poet and critic Charles Baudelaire declared that photographers would never become artists and that they were mere copiers. A legion of photographers has made efforts to prove Baudelaire wrong. The work of Robert Mapplethorpe and Richard Avedon, it has been argued, is an art form in itself. Two female photographers, Mexican-born Marcela Taboada and Desiree Harahap have followed in their artistic footsteps by meticulously painting their subjects with the camera and taking shots that reproduce the ordinary reality of life in the rural regions of Central Java. The exhibition titled Saling Menatap (Looking at each other) runs until March 28 at Building B of the National Gallery on Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur 14, Central Jakarta. It opens from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

views

You are a film enthusiast and want to learn about the history of cinema in Indonesia? You had better go to Ismail Marzuki Fine Arts Center (TIM) and see an exhibition on the history of Indonesian cinema at Teater Kecil. The event, which runs until March 31, is being run by Kineforum, the Jakarta Arts Council's Film Committee and karbonjournal.org. The exhibition is open every day from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. This annual event is the third of its kind, after similar exhibitions were held in 2008 and in 2009. The exhibition records the history of Indonesian cinema, which began more than a century ago. Several short historic movies are also being screened as part of the exhibition.